Benefits

This is FindLaw's Law Firm Management Center's collection of free articles on Benefits. Providing health, dental, vision, 401k, retirement, pension, life insurance, and other benefits for your law firm employees is an important part of the long-term success of your practice. Learn about the many benefit options available. Start your research with FindLaw.

Eighty percent of Americans experience back pain in their lifetime and this ailment can have serious implications for job security by negatively affecting even the most dedicated employee's ability to go to work.

Under the Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), employers are not obligated to provide employee benefit plans, but if they do, they must meet the requirements set forth in ERISA. Understand the basic obligations of an ERISA plan fiduciary.

These issues are incredibly complex, and no doubt, there is no single answer to achieving a work-life balance. But what is the working parent struggle like for so many of us professionals who are somewhere in the middle? And what can the average professional think about when it comes to finding balance?

Plan fiduciaries are tasked with administering and managing their employee benefit plans. They have specific legal responsibilities in carrying out their obligations and often seek the advice of outside pension consultants to do so. Read on to find out more about several laws and regulations that govern both the plan fiduciaries and the pension consultants who advise them.

Provided by Department of Labor
401(k) plans can be a powerful tool in promoting financial security in retirement. They are a valuable option for businesses considering a retirement plan, providing benefits to employees and their employers. Employers start a 401(k) for a host of reasons.

Provided by Department of Labor
The Federal law governing private-sector retirement plans, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), requires that those responsible for managing retirement plans -- referred to as fiduciaries -- carry out their responsibilities prudently and solely in the interest of the plan's participants and beneficiaries. This booklet will help you better understand and evaluate your plan's fees and expenses.

Provided by Kevin Andrews of SmartBen
It's readily apparent to every law firm HR manager. The American workplace is changing. Downsizing and outsourcing have strained the once solid relationship between employers and employees, and created a more mobile, more fluid workforce.

Provided by Department of Labor
This article describes conditions for small employee benefit plans (generally those with fewer than 100 participants) and the small pension plan audit waiver regulation.

Provided by Department of Labor
To assist business owners in carrying out their responsibilities under ERISA, the Employee Benefits Security Administration has prepared the following tips which may be a helpful starting point when selecting an employee benefit plan service provider.

Provided by Department of Labor
If your employee benefit plan is required to have an audit, one of the most important duties of the plan administrator is to hire an independent qualified public accountant. The sponsor of the plan is the plan administrator under the law unless another individual or entity is specifically designated to assume this responsibility. The following material will assist you, as plan administrator, in selecting an auditor and reviewing the audit work and report.

Provided by Department of Labor
A payroll deduction individual retirement account (IRA) is an easy way for businesses to give employees an opportunity to save for retirement. The employer sets up the payroll deduction IRA program with a bank, insurance company or other financial institution, and then the employees choose whether and how much they want deducted from their paychecks and deposited into the IRA.

Provided by Department of Labor
Congress passed the landmark Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) health benefit provisions in 1986. The law amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the Internal Revenue Code and the Public Health Service Act to provide continuation of group health coverage that otherwise might be terminated. COBRA provides certain former employees, retirees, spouses, former spouses, and dependent children the right to temporary continuation of health coverage at group rates.

Provided by U.S. Small Business Administration
Small business owners who want to provide health insurance for themselves, their families and their employees have a new program to help. The Health Savings Account, signed into law by President George W. Bush in December 2003, offers small business owners and employees what they need from health coverage: affordability, portability and freedom.